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BULLETIN of t h 



Itttemtg 0f ^mt\\ fliarnltna 

School Surveys 

Superintendent S. H. Edmunds of 
City Schools of Sumter, S. C. 



Paper Read Before the Department of Superinten- 
dence, December 29, 1917 



ISSUED MONTHLY 
BY THE UNIVERSITY 



No. 66 
March, 1918 



COLUMBIA, S. C. 

SecoDd-Class Mail Matter 




il»nograph 



D. of D. 
APR 25 1918 






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l^^ ZSZ3 



INTRODUCTION. 



Let me form a teacher's estimate of his results, and 

I care little who makes his methods! Given a true stand- 
ard of what he is to accomplish, with a true judg- 
ment of how nearly he is accomplishing it, you may 
leave him alone to find the way, sooner or later. This 
truth gives tremendous significance to the recent move- 
ment to subject educational products to definite meas- 
urements. 

The same principle holds largely of communities. 
The first step toward educational betterment is the 
comparison of accurately known conditions with what 
it is reasonable to demand. The practise of surveying 
school systems is destined to become universal, because 
it is so obviously useful. Of course this movement, like 
all things human, especially like all rapidly growing 
fashions, is accompanied with trumpeting, humbug- 
gery, politics, and personal littleness. (Sometimes one 
feels what a fine thing it would be to survey the sur- 
veyors.) Yet after deductions for the eternal human, 
there remains a practise which can be made a powerful 
engine of efficiency and which is sure to become perma- 
nent. 

Because there was a pressing need that our school 
folk be informed on this topic. Dr. Edmunds was re- 
quested to present, to the Department of Superintend- 
ence at its meeting last December, a treatment of 
School Surveys. The result is the following genuinely 
rich paper. The meeting ordered that it be put into 
permanent form, lest the teachers of the State should 
suffer a real loss. 

The growing teacher, the person intelligently inter- 
ested in education, simply cannot afford not to be in- 



formed about School Surveys; and I do not know where 
else he can find so good an introduction to the subject 
as in the excellent presentation of Dr. Edmunds. 

PATTERSON WARDLAW, 
President of Department of Superintendence, 

State Teachers Association. 



School Surveys 



One of my good friends among our professional 
brethren paid me the rather questionable compliment 
of saying that he was always glad to see me get 
up ; for he knew that it would not last long. I dislike 
very greatly to lose this reputation ; for I have always 
thought it far better to stop before you are through 
than to be through before you stop. Our president has 
assigned to me a subject so comprehensive that it mat- 
ters not when I shall stop, I shall not be through. It 
gives me pleasure, therefore, to hold him responsible 
for a prolongation of discussion beyond my custom. 

In discussing this subject I feel sure that I shall not 
be able to take you to any definite destination. My 
sole hope is that I may be able to direct your thoughts 
into channels of profitable investigation. I have studied 
the subject with some care : I have looked through a 
good many books: I have had considerable correspond- 
ence. As a result of this investigation, thought, and 
communication I trust that I may be able to give you 
something that will serve as a basis for your profitable 
pursuit. The paper that I am offering is of no literary 
value : it is simply a study together of this subject, with 
the information that I have on hand, gathered from 
published surveys and from my correspondence. At 
the conclusion of this discussion I shall give an expres- 
sion of my own views as to the question under consid- 
eration. 



CLASSIFICATION OF SURVEYS. 



The Institute for Public Service classifies surveys as 
follows: Auto; Outside; Fact; Philosophy; Useful; 
Ornamental; File-the report; Build-as you-go, and 
adds the following analysis of a certain type of survey 
used by one who is a participant in many surveys. The 
Institute says of this type that it dissertates; repeats 
educational dogma ; reprints local history ; shuns speci- 
fic evidence ; generalizes ; fails to give facts as a basis ; 
expounds the universally true; blinks at administra- 
tion deficiencies; restates solemnly as survey findings 
the reasons that led to the survey; makes unspecific 
recommendations. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



As soon as I began a study of this question, I natur- 
ally wrote to Director Allen of the Institute for Public 
Service. I shall read just here the two letters that I 
received from this department. 

New York City, November 23, 1917. 

Dear Supt. Edmunds : Dr. Allen is out of town and 
will not be in the office until next week. When he 
returns I will take up your letter with him and in case 
he has anything to add, he will write you further. 

The World Book Company has recently sent out two 
books on surveys by Dr. Allen; one Self-Surveys by 
Teacher Training Schools, and the other Self-Surveys 
by Colleges and Universities. You will find a report to 
the governor of Ohio of a rural school survey directed 
by H. L. Brittain, Managing Director Bureau of Munic- 
ipal Research, Toronto, Can., under Dr. Allen's direc- 
tion, also very helpful. Chas. D. Hine, Secretary of 
the Connecticut State Board of Education has made 
several surveys of schools in his State. It is probable 
that he will be glad to furnish you with some of these 
surveys upon application. Recently we made a self- 
survey of a large public school in New York City, and 
in co-operation with a committee of teachers, appointed 
by the public school, we prepared a questionnaire for 
teachers and a questionnaire for administrators. The 
demand for these questionnaires has been so great that 
we are, at present, out of them. If you are interested 
in them we will send you copies when we have more 
run off. 

In a consideration of school problems I feel certain 
that the self-survey should be emphasized. 

Sincerely yours, 

HELEN E. PURCELL, 
Educational Investigator. 



8 

New York City, December 10, 1917. 
My Dear Superintendent Edmunds: Following Miss 
Purcell's note to you of November 23, may I suggest 
that in this survey business we must come to two ideas : 

(1) The build-as-you-go idea where the schools 
benefit from the first hour that the survey starts in- 
stead of waiting for some ponderous report three or 
six months after the study. 

(2) The co-operative idea which makes sure that 
the person surveyed shall see everything that the sur- 
veyors see. 

I recently talked with some three hundred women 
and began by asking them to fill out the enclosed card; 
i. e., to make a selfnsurvey. They did it pretty well. 
Many superintendents are using our teachers' person- 
ality slip in the same way. Minneapolis just ordered 
2,000. I send them to illustrate two more points of 

value in self -surveying : 

I 

(1) Breaking up or factoring of questions into their 
elements. For example, voice is not one fact but at 
least eleven. Appearance of room is not one fact but 
at least seventeen. 

(2) Factored elements plus degree in which each 
may appear. 

With best wishes for your meeting, 

Sincerely yours, 

WM. H. ALLEN, 

Director. 



The two personality cards from the Institute for 
Public Service follow : 



PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF TEACHER: 

1. Pleasing very tolerably unpleaslng- displeasing 

2. Courteous very moderately little discourteous 

3. Cheerful very moderately little gloomy, sullen 

4. Industrious very tolerably lazy 

5. Sympathetic very moderately unsympathetic unkind 

6. Enthusiastic very moderately little lacking 

7. Dignified very moderately little undignified 

8. "Well bred," polite notably acceptably "on the way" ill mannered. 

9. Tactful very tolerably blundering 

10. Stimulating very moderately lacking 

11. Humorous very moderately little lacking 

12. Encouraging very moderately discouraging nagging 

13. Scholarly very fair too technical unscholarly 

14. Resourceful very fair unresourceful unimaginative... 

15. Systematic in thought very tolerably unsystematic 

16. Strict very moderately lax irritable 

IT. Wins cooperation easily fairly antagonizes 

18. Self -controlled very moderately little 

19. Ambitious professionally quite not yet seems to be lacking 

20. Teachable quite with difficulty doubtful material 

Comment of teacher or supervisor — verbal or written but confidential. 
INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE, 51 Chambers St., New York City. 

5 for 10c; 10 for 15c; 50 for 50c; per 100, 75c; per 1000, $5.00 — Postpaid. 

School..... 

City 



Position To help teachers and 

PAn«^^M'!«IS4«« Oi:r%c> -F^w supervisors locate their 
erSOnailiy OIIPS lOr own strong and weak 

characteristics. 

Name OAl<f ^■■■•%#A%#e "''° '^®'P supervisors help 

<OeiT-<OUrVt;ya where help is most need- 
Position ed. 



For checking and rechecking by teachers, supervisors, normal schools, before admission and 
during course, would-be employers, placement and guidance bureau, teachers' agencies 

and surveyors. 

Check (x) after items which describe conditions. Use ? if a further visit is needed before mark- 
ing. 

APPEARANCE OF ROOM: 

1. Order notable fair poor disorderly 

2. Decoration attractive overdone unattractive lacking 

3. Windows open — yes no clean unclean 

4. Air fresh fair stale 

5. Blackboards much used little used unusued tidy untidy 

6. Number of pupils overcrowded full vacant seats 

TEACHER'S VOICE: 

1. Pleasing harsh shrill nagging 

2. Clear indistinct foreign pronounciation bad grammar 

3. Low medium too high 

TEACHER'S PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: 

1. Vigorous passable weak timid 

2. Healthy healthy, but tired anaemic sick 

3. Well poised medium nervous 

4. At ease medium embarrassed 

5. Correct, erect posture stooping, bad habits slouching 

6. Neat tolerably bad taste slovenly hyper-cosmetic 



10 

As I said at the outset, I am simply giving you here 
the result of the investigation that I have made. You 
can get all of the documents and books to which I refer: 
I am reading the shorter papers in order that 
you may ascertain whether or not you wish to get 
them. The books to which I refer will be named, with 
the author and publisher, for your convenience. 

Chicago, November 22, 1917. 
My Dear Mr. Edmunds: I have your letter of No- 
vember 19th asking for suggestions regarding the sub- 
ject of School Surveys. I have no doubt that you have 
sent a similar communication to Dr. Judd. At all 
events he is above all others on this groujid the man 
to answer your inquiries. I am, therefore, referring 
your letter to him. 

With all good wishes, I am, 

Very truly yours, 

NATHANIEL BUTLER. 



Chicago, November 27, 1917. 
My Dear Mr. Edmunds : There are two bibliog- 
raphies on surveys the one is issued by the Russel Sage 
Foundation and the other one appears in Dr. Rugg's 
book entitled ''Statistical Methods Applied to Educa- 
tion" by Houghton, Mifflin Company. Undoubtedly 
the Cleveland Survey is the most comprehensive one 
which has appeared up to the present time. Either the 
Portland Survey or the Grand Rapids Survey is very 
suggestive. Each of the latter surveys mentioned is a 
single volume survey. 

Very truly yours, 

WILLIAM S. GRAY, 

Dean. 



Chicago. 
My Dear Mr. Edmunds: There is very little litera- 
ture about surveys that is worth anything. L. V. Koos 
presents a good article — School and Society 5:35-41, 



11 

January 13, 1917 — entitled 'The Fruits of School Sur- 
veys." You will want to read that, but in general there 
is only one way to learn the value and nature of school 
surveys, and that is to read the surveys for one's self 
and estimate their values in terms of one's own expe- 
rience. Get Portland (World Book Co.), Grand 
Rapids (from Supt., $1.10), Leavenworth, Kansas, etc. 

Very truly yours, 

G. F. BOBBITT. 



New Yoik, November 27th, 1917. 
My Dear Mr. Edmunds: I have consulted with 
Professor Strayer and am suggesting references: 

(1) The Bureau of Education during the last few 
years has been giving a general account of surveys. 
This would probably be of some assistance. 

(2) The N. E. A. Committee on Standards made 
either in 1914 or 1915 a rather definite report on what 
might be done and expected in the way of school sur- 
veys. This is probably the best single source. 

(3) Professor Strayer about two years ago wrote 
an article in Teachers College Record on the subject 
of surveys. 

(4) By all means get a report of one of the better 
surveys. The World Book Co. of Yonkers, N. Y., has 
published several, perhaps the best of which is the 
Butte survey. The Salt Lake City survey would do 
nearly as well. 

I think if you will study these you will be put in pos- 
session of the best that is known on the subject. I have 
not myself made any sufficient study and do not feel 
competent to discuss it further. 

Very truly yours, 

WM. H. KILPATRICK. 



12 

A Survey of a Public School System. 

(Journal of Education : Boston.) 
The ''Survey" is one of the significant movements 
of the education of the day. It has been of inestima- 
ble service, and yet it has been brought into disrepute 
by many tragic and some comic blunders. One has 
hesitated to speak approvingly of the ''Survey" be- 
cause he was liable to have some special blunder thrust 
in his face. The general educational estimate may be 
suspected from the immense popularity of Dr. O. T. 
Corson's address at the Kansas City meeting of the 
Department of Superintendence last v^inter; an ad- 
dress that he has been called upon to give in many 
cities since, an address that has been printed and re- 
printed, and circulated by the thousands. 

Despite the tragedies and the comedies of "Surveys" 
everyone must recognize the real service they have 
rendered. The very v^ord itself suggests a determina- 
tion to know the facts, and a desire to correct glaring 
errors. 

It is useless to deny that there has been much incon- 
sequential puttering, much airing of a surveyor's pet 
theories, much effort to create an expert class, but none 
or all of these can discount the real service of the idea, 
and Henry Lester Smith's account of the survey of the 
schools of Bloomington, Indiana, under the direction 
of the State University of Indiana, as presented in the 
Monograph published by Teachers College, Columbia 
University, will do much toward clearing the air and 
making future Surveys both tolerable and valuable. 

Dr. Smith seems to have avoided all of the pitfalls 
into which so many others have fallen headlong. 

The Bloomington Survey is likely to be the first of an 
entirely new and permanently useful means of improv- 
ing a school system. 

The Bloomington Survey is in a class by itself. It 
seems to have solved problems that have seemed in- 



13 

capable of solution elsewhere. Its approach is quite 
different, and the means employed are radically dif-. 
ferent. The only fear is that it will not receive the 
publicity inevitable in the case of the other Surveys. 
But it is sure to be appreciated by those really inter- 
ested in the perfection of the Survey. 



THE TWO GREAT DIVISIONS. 



The subject divides itself in a practical way into two 
classes: 

1. The School Survey by Outsiders. 

2.' A Survey of the School Within the System Itself. 



14 



A VERY VALUABLE COMMUNICATION. 



In studying the whole question I wrote to, among 
others, Professor Homer E. Cooper, Secretary of the 
Extra-Mural Instruction Bureau of the University of 
Pittsburgh, asking him questions that would bring out 
the following points: 1. The advantage of a school 
survey. 2. Shall the schools be surveyed from within 
or from without? 3. The harm that would result from 
an adverse report. 4. The difficulty that a stranger 
would have in appreciating the traditions of a school. 
5. A general discussion of the question. Professor 
Cooper very courteously and generously answered my 
letter in full and it gives me pleasure to read it just here 
as a valuable contribution to our discussion. 

November 26, 1017. 
My Dear Mr. Edmunds: I am very glad to answer 
yours of the 22d regarding school surveys. I will 
answer your questions seriatim. 

1. The outstanding advantage of school surveys, as 
I have seen it, is the credence with which the public 
treats socalled expert advice from the outside and the 
resultant advantage to the system because of the ac- 
ceptance of such advice. 

A few examples may illustrate. You know the re- 
sult, of course, of most of the older surveys and prob- 
ably are acquainted with those of the more recent ones ; 
but a few of them will illustrate. Framingham, Mas- 
sachusetts, had a survey beginning about the first of 
January last year. The findings were published six 
weeks or two months later. Within a month or two, 
the community voted the bo'nd issue recommended in 
the survey, for physical improvements. St. Paul, Min- 
nesota, immediately voted the four million dollar bond 
issue recommended as a result of the survey. Nassau 



15 

County proceeded to reorganize her high school dis- 
trict in many places as a result of the survey. I could 
multiply examples almost without limit. 

2. The school system should be constantly surveyed 
from the inside. Many of the findings should be made 
public at the most opportune time. Some of them, per- 
haps, should not be made public but should be used 
by the administrative authorities to bring about im- 
provements. Schools are not very different from the 
affairs of individuals; some of them may be made 
public to advantage ; other may not. But the admin- 
istrative authorities that do not make surveys neces- 
sarily work blindly. 

Now on the other hand, the needs of the schools may 
at times be such that advice from the outside is neces- 
sary in order to bring about the needed support of the 
community. If the survey be made from the inside, the 
people of the community may suspect intentional 
coloring by those making it. Moreover, for various 
obvious reasons, it may be much more effective to have 
the survey made from the outside, even though the 
findings may not differ in any essential feature from 
those which the Superintendent already knew existed. 

3. I think it much more important to have the sur- 
vey made by one who ,though a stranger, is an au- 
thority on school questions and knows the philosophy 
and technique of school surveys than by one who may 
be familiar with the system but lacking these qualities. 

I may state further that even though both may be 
thoroughly well-prepared, the findings of the stranger 
are less likely to be subjected to the suspicion of per- 
sonal bias or unfair influence. 

However, such a question as this must be decided 
upon its merits with regard to each survey proposed, 
as must a great many of the other questions that may 
arise regarding any individual survey. 

4. An unfavorable report made unskillfully with 



16 

an appearance of a lack of sympathy with the people 
of the community and their endeavors, is almost sure 
to do more harm than good ; but it is possible for a sur- 
vey report to be so written, and the reasons and evi- 
dence so cogent as to do much good even though many 
^f the findings be unfavorable. 

It must be understood, of course, that in a survey 
reasonably complete, there is almost no possibility of 
its being unfavorable with regard to all the matters 
investigated. It will be favorable with regard to some 
features and unfavorable as to others in nearly every 
instance. 

I may say further with regard to number four that 
in the selection of the head of the survey staff very 
great care should be taken to see to it that a man is 
chosen who can be discreet, fair, and convincing in 
his statements of facts and conclusions. The survey is 
sure to defeat its own purpose if a mistake is made in 
this one particular. The chief surveyor must have had 
wide dealings with people, must know how to approach 
them and work with them, and must have uppermost 
in his mind the notion that his function is not neces- 
sarily to find fault with people and the system in ques- 
tion, but to assist those who desire to improve it in 
bringing about needed improvements. 

5. Number five is in part answered in number four. 
It is a trite saying that schools exist for the benefit of 
children. We may widen that a little and say that 
schools exist for the benefit of the community. This 
being true, the primary function of a school survey is 
to provide better instruction and more of it to those 
who should attend. 

With this in mind, we necessarily give considerable 
attention in a complete survey to the achievement of 
children as revealed by standard tests, and to their 
rate of advancement througih the grades and hig*h 
school, and in addition to this, to the offerings which 
the school gives them ordinarily from the course of 



17 

study. The plant, the teaching staff, the cost, the ad- 
ministrative machinery, and the like, while important 
as means, must be regarded as means only. 

In general I may say that school surveys from within 
or from without made by people who exercise good 
judgment, and used by people who can interpret them 
and apply the findings, are wonderfully useful in this 
day of school administration. 

I may cite another example ; there was some com- 
plaint regarding the quality of arithmetic as taught 
in the Parnassus, N. J., schools. Some of us gave tests 
and found that the children of those schools were far 
above the average of the United States in that subject. 
Our findings should have silenced those criticisms and 
I think they did. 

In some other cases which I know^ the surveys have 
revealed the fact that certain children showed ability 
beyond that required in the grade to which they were 
assigned. On being promoted immediately, they car- 
ried the work of advanced grades successfully, and 
thus saved themselves much time and possibly the 
deadening effect of grinding over material unsuited to 
them. 

School surveys may in many instances be the means 
of making people better satisfied with the schools 
which they have — a very desirable end if the schools 
are good. 

The survey may be regarded as an instrument of 
precision which evaluates in cold blood existing con- 
ditions; but whatever the findings may be and how- 
ever cold-blooded the investigation may have been 
conducted, the report should be written in such a way 
as to do the most good. 

I assure you that it was a pleasure to answer your 
letter. I should be glad to communicate with you 
further if you have further questions. 

I am mailing you one of our Extension Bulletins, on 



18 

page 27 of which you will find a hint of my idea of 
surveys from the inside. 

Yours very truly, 

HOMER E. COOPER. 

In this Bulletin Professor Cooper says under the 
head of City School Surveys: ''The purpose of this 
course is to enable the administrator, actual or pro- 
spective, to ascertain and interpret the important facts 
of the system in which he works, in order that he may 
the more safely and effectively direct its efforts. 

"Consideration will be given to the use of tests and 
measurements; the significance of the retardation and 
acceleration of pupils; the social and economic needs 
of the community, condition, and care of school plants ; 
costs and accounting; school statistics and statistical 
method.'' 

Some of us, I am sure, will wish to study this ques- 
tion of school surveys; for it is going to be with us a 
very live question for the next few years. 



FURTHER REFERENCES. 



In addition, therefore, to the references that I have 
already given, I wish to call your attention to the whole 
list of books published by the World Book Company un- 
der the Educational Survey Series and to these books 
particularly: The Butte Survey, conducted by Doctor 
Strayer ; The Salt Lake City Survey, by Doctor Cubber- 
ley; San Antonio Survey, by Doctor Bobbitt; The Port- 
land Survey, Doctor Bobbitt, and the San Fran- 
cisco Survey just issued. A perusal of these books 
will open up to our minds the whole question of 
surveys as conducted by those from the outside. You 
will learn that the questions that all of the surveyors 
study with particular scrutiny are : The Administration 
of the Schools ; The Teaching Corps ; School Buildings 



19 

and Equipment ; Census, Records, and Reports ; Finance 
and Accounts; The Classification and Progress of Pu- 
pils ; The Quality of Instruction ; The Courses of Study ; 
The Achievement of Pupils; The Supervision of In- 
struction; The Adaptation of Schools to Community 
Needs; Health Supervision; Physical Education, Play- 
ground Activities, and Hygiene Teaching; Needed Re- 
organizations and Expansions of the School Systems; 
Conclusions From the Survey and Consequent Recom- 
mendations. 



QUOTATIONS. 



I quote now from the 1915 Report of the United 
States Commissioner of Education, Chapter XVIII, 
pages 491 and 492: On April 17, 1915, Dr. Leonard 
A. P. Ayres, director of the division of education of 
the Russell Sage Foundation, delivered an address on 
**A Survey of School Surveys" at the close of the second 
annual conference on educational measurements, held 
under the auspices of the extension division of Indiana 
University. In tracing the developments of the sur- 
vey movement and pointing out the important charac- 
teristics of the 30 surveys v^hich have been made. Dr. 
Ayres adds information on different items, such as 
agencies and directors, cost, length of time expended, 
and the size of the reports. 

These surveys have been carried through by organi- 
zations or individuals as follows : Individuals, 7 ; uni- 
versities, 6 ; bureaus of municipal research, 5 ; State 
departments of education, 3 ; foundations, 3 ; United 
States Bureau of Education, 2 ; municipal depart- 
ments, 2; national societies, 2. 

The directors of these 30 surveys have been the fol- 
lowing: Professors of education, 13; special investiga- 
tors, 11; directors of foundations, 4; United States 



20 

Commissioner of Education, 1 ; superintendent of 
schools, 1. 

The cost figures that are available for the different 
pieces of survey work are as follows: Montclair, N. J., 
$500; Baltimore, Md., $2,000; East Orange, N. J., 
$1,000; Bridgeport, Conn., $1,000; Waterbury, Conn., 
$126.89; Portland, Oreg., $7,500; New York, N. Y., 
$125,000; State of Ohio, $10,000; State of Vermont, 
$10,000; Springfield, 111., $3,261; San Francisco, Cal., 
$700; Butte, Mont., $4,500. 

The time required is as follows: Baltimore, 3 
months; East Orange, 2 1-2 months; Vermont high 
schools, 4 months; Montgomery County, Md., 4 months; 
Waterbury, 3 days ; New York, 2 years 2 months ; Port- 
land, 4 months; Ohio, 8 months; Springfield, 2 1-2 
months; San Francisco, 3 months; Butte, 1 month. 

Nine surveys were conducted by 1 individual, 8 sur- 
veys conducted by 2 individuals, 4 surveys conducted 
by 3 individuals, 2 surveys conducted by 2 individuals, 
2 surveys conducted by 5 individuals, 1 survey conduct- 
ed by 7 individuals, 3 surveys conducted by 8 in- 
dividuals, 1 survey conducted by 12 individuals. 

The published reports vary greatly in size. The 
smallest consists of 6 pages and the largest of 2,573 ; 
11 have less than 100 pages; 3 from 100 to 200 pages; 
2 from 200 to 300 pages; 2 from 300 to 400 pages. 

To summarize the salient characteristics of the sur- 
vey, it may be said that they are 30 in number; that 
they have all been conducted in the past four years; 
that they are increasing in frequency; that they have 
largely been conducted by professors of education; 
that they have largely been undertaken by agencies or 
individuals outside of the school systems; that they 
range in cost from $126 to nearly $126,000; that the 
time consumed ranges from three days to more than 
two years; and that the reports range in bulk from 6 
pages to nearly 2,600 pages. 

So much for surveys from the outside. 



21 
SURVEYS FROM WITHIN. 



Let us now consider the question of surveys from 
within. In doing so I commend most earnestly to your 
attention City School Circular, 1915-1916, No. 2, of the 
National Bureau of Education. You can easily get this 
circular, if, after having heard it read, you may wish 
to procure it. 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 



Bureau of Education 

Washington. 

City School Circular, 1915-16, No. 2. 

SOME SUGGESTIVE POINTS FOR SUPERINTEND- 
ENTS IN THE SMALLER CITIES WHO ARE 
SURVEYING THEIR OWN SCHOOLS. 

How to have a school survey without expense is a 
question sometimes asked by superintendents of schools 
in the smaller cities where funds for the employment 
of a survey commission are not available. 

It is clear that however valuable a survey by paid 
experts may be, a survey by the superintendent and his 
assistants is of very definite worth. Possibly superin- 
tendents in several cities could form a group and by 
cooperating render one another valuable service with- 
out much expense, or the department of education in 
some university might cooperate. It would no doubt 
be an excellent plan for a number of superintendents 
to make surveys of their schools with the advice and 
cooperation of the school of education of the State 
university or of some other university maintaining a 
school of education. 



22 

Since in a certain sense every progressive superin- 
tendent is continually surveying his schools, this bureau 
has prepared the following outline merely to suggest 
some points that superintendents might profitably in- 
vestigate and report upon to the school board and to 
the community. 

The reader is referred to the Thirteenth Yearbook 
of the National Society for the Study of Education for 
a more detailed outline of a plan for organizing school 
surveys and for a summary of typical surveys. See 
also the Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Educa- 
tion (Volume I) for 1913, 1914 and 1915, for a sum- 
mary of the more important surveys. (Chapter XVIII, 
1915, is available as a separate publication.) Excel- 
lent suggestions may be had from many of the school 
reports of the smaller cities. Among these may be 
mentioned those of Newton, Mass., 1912 and 1913; 
Solvay, N. Y., 1914 and 1915; Dansville, N. Y., 1914; 
and of Bellefonte, Pa., 1915. The Report of the Voca- 
tional Guidance Survey Committee, Mankato, Minn., 
also suggests an interesting line of work for a superin- 
tendent in a small city. 

It may be suggested that a chart might be prepared 
to show as a credit every good thing the school has, and 
as a debit what it does not but should have. Where 
possible it should be shown how the school varies from 
the median or average of a number of schools in unit 
costs, retardation, work of pupils as determined by 
standard tests, etc. Cost per pupil for each item of 
expenditure for a number of cities can easily be esti- 
mated from the statistics contained in Volume II of the 
1914 Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Education. 
Tables should be prepared and facts represented 
graphically to show progress or lack of progress over 
a period of years. This important point is omitted in 
many school reports. Statistics showing enrollment, 
amount expended, etc., for one year mean little. The 
test of a school system is whether it is improving. A 



23 

school system may be below average and to the out- 
side observer a failure when if the facts were known 
for a period of years it would be seen that substantial 
progress had been made. 

In the outline that follows, part one is devoted to 
the school survey proper, and part two to a brief out- 
line of a community survey which includes the social 
and vocational phases as related to the schools. 



THE SCHOOLS. 



I. Efficiency of the Schools. 

1. How the school holds pupils: 

(a) Number of children 14 to 18 years of age in city 
and per cent in school. 

(b) Number of children 6 to 14 years of age in city 
and per cent, in school. 

(c) Ratio of pupils above compulsory age limit to 
those below it. How this ratio has changed during the 
past five years. 

(d) Number of pupils, for each 100 beginners, 
dropping out of school ; at each age ; at each grade ; 
number of those leaving to enter school elsewhere; 
number for other causes. 

(e) Per cent, of those entering the first grade who 
complete the elementary course, the high school course. 

(f) Per cent, of those entering high school to com- 
plete the course. 

(h) Per cent, of high school graduates who enter 
college. Standing in college. 

(i) Does course of study suit the needs of all the 
children of the community? 

(j) How school has improved during the past 5 
years in holding children in school. 



24 

2. Progress through the grades: 

(a) Per cent, of children of normal age for grade. 

(b) Per cent, of children over age for grade. 

(c) Per cent, of children under age for grade. 

(d) Per cent, who fail of promotion in first grade, 
second grade, etc. 

(e) Per cent, of failures in different subjects. 

(f) Number of years it takes each pupil to com- 
plete the course of study. 

(g) Kind of work done by pupils repeating a grade 
in subjects failed in and in subjects passed. 

(h) Causes of failure: Course of study, poor teach- 
ing, irregular attendance, frequent changes of school 
because of parents moving from city to city, lock step 
in promotion scheme, etc. 

(i) How lessen retardation? 

(j) How much retardation has been reduced dur- 
ing the past 5 years? 

3. How instruction in the schools re-acts upon the 
home and lives of the pupils, especially instruction in 
music, art, literature, manual training, and domestic 
science. 

4. What those who have graduated from the high 
school within the past 5 or 10 years are doing; those 
who have graduated from the grammar school; those 
who left the grades without graduating; those who 
left high school without graduating. 

5. Ability of pupils in different subjects as deter- 
mined by standard tests. 

6.' Strong and weak points in teaching as determined 
by class-room visitation. Some standard by which to 
judge classroom methods must be decided upon by the 
superintendent who is surveying his schools. 

7. How the pupil's time is economized through the 
course of study and through classroom methods. 



25 

8. What the school' is doing to direct pupils toward 
vocations. What more it can do. 

9. Provision for exceptional children and non-Eng- 
lish speaking children. 

11. Administration and Supervision. 

1. Unit costs for each elementary school and for 
high school. 

2. Cost per pupil recitation in high school. 

3. Value of different subjects as measured by ap- 
portionment of every dollar expended for instruction. 

4. Amount of real wealth in the city for every dollar 
spent for school maintenance. Compare with other 
cities. 

5. Method of accounting. Does it conform to recom- 
mendations of the Department of Superintendence of 
the National Education Association? 

6. School records and reports. How to simplify to 
minimize the amount of bookkeeping and yet keep a 
complete record of individual pupils. 

7. The economical purchase and distribution of 
supplies. 

8. The effective points in supervision by principals 
and special supervisors. Where the superintendent 
renders his most effective service in the system. 

III. Teachers. 

1. Academic preparation. 

2. Professional preparation. 

3. Number of years experience within system — in 
other systems. 

4. Ways in which the teachers are improving them- 
selves. What the superintendent and principals can 
do to help them improve. 

5. Per cent, of teachers resigning each year and 
cause. 

6. Salary schedule : How it tends to make teachers 



26 

progressive. How salaries compare with those in 
other cities. 

IV. Buildings. 

1. Heating and ventilation. 

2. Lighting. 

3. Seating. 

4. Equipment. 

5. How adapted to community use. 

6. Janitorial service. 

7. Comparisons should be made when possible with 
recognized standards in the matter of heating, venti- 
lation, etc. 

V. Hygiene and Sanitation. 

1. Are hygienic and sanitary conditions standard? 

2. The schools' responsibility for the health of 
children. 

3. Medical inspection and school nurse service. 



THE COMMUNITY. 



I. The People. 

1. Racial and national elements. 

2. What the people do for a living: 

(a) Training required for occupation in the com- 
munity. 

(b) Training given by the school. 

(c) How can the school meet vocational needs? 

3. Social and recreational life: 

(a) Of young children. 

(b) Of high school boys and girls. 



27 

(c) Of young men and women no longer in school. 

(d) Of adults. 

(e) Amount spent on amusements, theatres, public 
dance halls, moving pictures, etc. Compare with 
amount spent on schools. 

(f) How does the school supply recreational and 
social needs, and what more could it do? 

II. Growth of the Community. 

1. Increase in population during the past 10 years. 

2. Estimated growth in population during the next 
10 years. 

3. In what direction is the city growing? 

4. How prepare for future needs in the way of build- 
ing, playgrounds, etc.? 

III. Cooperating Agencies. 

1. Churches. 

2. Homes. 

3. Organizations of various kinds. 

4. Manufacturing plants, business houses, etc. 

5. How bring about a closer cooperation between 
each of these and the schools? 



28 



CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 



What conclusions are we ready to draw from this 
discussion? 

I. In order that we may do our work intelligently, 
constant surveys of our school systems are necessary. 
We must be in a position to give a reason for the faith 
that is in us. We must be ready to answer any ques- 
tions that may be asked as to the causes of progres- 
sive changes in our schedule of expenses. We must 
be able to show what we are doing in comparison with 
others, not that through a chain of comparisons we 
may establish a deadening level ; but that we may at- 
tain a standard or, better still, that we may be fur- 
nished the means to go beyond the prevailing standard 
and thus set new standards for ourselves and for others. 

II. A survey may be forced upon us or we may ask 
for one, in order to justify our practices or to confirm 
our plans. In cases of this sort only the survey from 
without will meet the demands. While, therefore, a 
survey from without may be desirable and in some 
cases may become imperative, in most places it is im- 
practicable, on account of the expense; and may 
largely fail to meet the ends of justice, because the 
attitude, the amosphere, the ideals — ^the big things of 
a school system are immeasurable, especially by one 
who remains in a system but a few weeks. 

III. While a superintendent should be constantly 
surveying his school or schools, he may at any time 
have a formal survey from within. The outline for 
this survey has been given in the City School circular," 
which I read in your hearing. In order to make a 
survey of this sort most helpful and suggestive, a num- 
ber of superintendents should agree to conduct sur- 
veys of their respective schools simultaneously and re- 



29 

port the result to the State Department of Education. 
The Legislature should be asked to provide sufficient 
funds and clerical help for this department in order 
that the results reported might be tabulated and put 
in form available for distribution. This would enable 
every superintendent to measure his school by every 
school within this group in his own State and he could 
readily procure from the U. S. Department of Educa- 
tion such data as would enable him to compare his 
school with the most progressive schools of our nation. 

IV. Why make a survey at all? Because, as ignor- 
ance is a remedy for nothing, knowledge may be used 
to guide us into the ways of intelligent progressive- 
ness; may lead us to make many changes that in our 
arrogance bred by ignorance we deemed unnecessary; 
may give us the facts that the public is always seeking 
and thus may enable us to fortify our position or to 
realize some of the hopes that we have been entertain- 
ing for our schools. 

Fifth and finally, let us remember that there is noth- 
ing easier than to criticize and frequently nothing 
more gladly received than the adverse criticism of a 
public institution. *Tn destructive criticism we are mul- 
timillionaires ; paupers, in constructive helpfulness." 
Let us be our own critics. Let us constantly examine 
ourselves and our schools. Let us know what we have 
and what we would have. Let us make our wants 
known in shape so tangible that all adverse critics may 
be brought to realize that we anticipated their criti- 
cisms. Let us rob adverse findings of their sting by 
anticipations expressed and recorded ; but let us, at 
the same time cultivate a spirit of open-mindedness 
and eagerness-to-grow that will make us welcome all 
constructive criticism and that will enable us even to 
go so far as to transmute the baser metal of malice 
and malevolence into the unalloyed gold of sane and 
salutary suggestions for a prophetic program of pro- 
nounced progressiveness. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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